Our Garden: Fun with succulents

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The swordlike leaves of Aloe mutabilis may look formidable, but they are softer and more pliable than one might suppose. The teeth along the margins are not so sharp as to be a hazard.Brian Kemble/Ruth Bancroft Garden

The variety of succulents is amazingly wide, and for those focusing on a drought-tolerant garden, these amazing plants should be front and center.

Brian Kemble, curator at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, told the Our Garden class this week that succulents, a descriptive name for a family of plants that store water in their leaves or stems, are easy to grow if you find the right plant for the right spot in your garden and do a little work to protect it when the weather turns freezing.

Many succulents come from warm areas — South Africa has a startling number of native succulents — and do not tolerate the Bay Area’s colder, wetter winters. Others are from a Mediterranean zone and do well in our similar summer-dry, winter-wet climate.

In the Ruth Bancroft Garden, started in 1972 by Ruth Bancroft, some plants are grown that may not be considered typical for our area. The staff, however, gives them special attention, protecting them from freezing temperatures and winter rains.

“We’d rather lose things occasionally,” Kemble says, “and have a big collection than just grow a few things that we know will do well all of the time.”

Here are his suggestions for succulents to consider for your own garden.

Stonecrop family, so named because many of them are found growing on rocks. These include sedums, echeverias (hen and chicks), crassulas (the largest is the Jade tree) and aeoniums.

Asphodeloideae family. The best-known plants in this family are the Aloes. There are more than 500 varieties, although most people can name just one — Aloe vera. The plants can range in size from a fully grown Aloe you can hold in the palm of your hand to one that towers 50 feet. Gasteria (tongue, ox tongue) is related to Aloe. They prefer filtered light and even may be grown as a houseplant.

Agave is another popular succulent. Most people envision the giant Century plant, which will take over your yard, Kemble says. But there are many other varieties of this plant, too, including dwarfs and plants that have no decorative “teeth.”

Bromeliads are tropical succulents — most notably, the pineapple — but there are some that grow outdoors in less tropical climes.

When it comes to growing succulents, the most important thing is to have soil with good drainage. The Bancroft Garden plants are grown in a 50-50 mixture of potting soil and pumice. Pumice is difficult to find at area nurseries and home improvement stores, but adding coarse sand or crushed rock can work, too.

Some succulents, such as aeoniums, rest in the summer and grow in the winter. They will need only some supplemental water in the summer and should get enough water from the winter rains to thrive. Others are summer bloomers that won’t tolerate winter rains. Be sure to learn about the conditions the plant needs.

What’s happening

Our Garden seemed to be headed into the later summer slowdown, but most of the plants are showing signs of new vigor. So far this season, we’ve donated almost 1,500 pounds of produce to the Monument Crisis Center in Concord.

Next time

Recently retired pets and wildlife columnist Gary Bogue returns to the garden to answer questions. The free classes are at 10 a.m. Wednesdays at the Contra Costa Times, 2640 Shadelands Drive, Walnut Creek, through October. Master Gardeners are on hand to answer questions, diagnose sick plants and identify pests. Winter vegetable seedlings and ornamental plants also are available for sale.

Joan Morris is the pets & wildlife columnist for the Bay Area News Group. She also writes about gardening and is the founder of Our Garden, a demonstration garden in Walnut Creek. Morris started her career in 1978 as a reporter for a small New Mexico newspaper. She has lived in the Bay Area since 1988.

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